Bangkok--5 Aug--Sports Authority of Thailand
The Asian Martial Arts Games, which will be memorised as the first-ever event and also the last of its kind, has introduced several new sports not only to Thai athletes, but also to the staff, who are involved with sports in the country.
Amongst those new, which came along with an opportunity to lift the standard of martial arts sports in Thailand, is Kurash. Very few people know it well.
“Kurash for Thailand is very new, it is a combination between judo and wrestling. Very few people compete or know about it. This is the first time that Thailand is sending athletes to take part in an international event like this,” said the Thai head coach, Santipap Lokamit.
Kurash, the origin if wgucg in Uzbekistan and the Asian hemisphere Russia, is similar to wrestling that exists in all Turkish dialect areas. Having been developed from the fighting technique used in warfare, the sport is considered by these countries to be their national form of martial art sport and it is gaining increasing popularity by the world community.
“Our national team athletes, who passed the trial selection, are athletes from judo and wrestling as this kind of sport is very similar to judo combining with wrestling. However, grabbing of the leg is excluded. Contestants need to use strength, agility, at the same time as quick thinking,” said Santipap, who used to be an athlete for both judo and wrestling.
Even though, all powerhouse of kurash are all present in the Games, the hosts’ athletes are upbeat to put on fine form.
“Tough opponents from Mongolia, Iraq, and Uzbekistan also joined the competition as they are most familiar with the sport. Although the sport is really new, we are confident that all of our athletes will go deep in the round. We have expert from Uzbekistan, Djumanov Bahitjan as a trainer and the draw is favourable for our team,” said Paytay Knamtubtim, the assistant coach.
Thailand is fielding athletes in all divisions of kurash discipline, with the prospects lying on fighters in the men’s under 60kg, and under 100kg divisions and in the women’s under 48kg, and over 78kg classes. Sarawut Petsing, who is the best in judo and wrestling amongst Thai team, is a star to watch.
“We haven’t set our expectation on gold medal yet as the sport is really new for Thai athletes. We don’t have enough experience or expertise to aim that high. However, the sport is growing with increasing interest by Thailand wrestling association, who helped pushing kurash to be included in the Games,” said Paytay.
Both Santipap and Paytay, head and assistant coach of Thai team hopes that the sport will win increasing interest from the public if Thai athletes seize the medals from the Games. Thai athletes, however, has received a level of success by taking part in the Games and also gain valuable experience from an international stage.
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